Yesterday was back day and for once I tried something new: I completed all my excersizes in 45 mins, which is 1/3 of the time it usually takes me on an efficient day! Reason for this is because I skipped my strength sets in DL and Bent over Barbells and did supersets consisting of dumbell rows and cable pull downs with 5 seconds max in between the sets. I had to chew my ego on this one, because these supersets had me lifting only on medium capacity. so yeah this is what I did

On a different note, I've realised that the reason I haven't transitioned to veganism is *not* because I don't want to or couldn't live off of only vegan food... It's simply a matter of availability. As I've said somewhere else I currently live off of take-away and whatever I can find that's ready made in the super markets. This means I inevitably end up consuming dairy products. On particularly bad days (or rather weak moments) I also eat things like cake that contains eggs and/or whipped cream (at births days/when I'm invited or generally if it's presented to me in a particularly tempting way). Because when the vegan alternative is there, I chose it without blinking even if it's not as tasty as the non-vegan version.

Vegan Aspirant wrote:Oh and on a little side note, my new jeans leggings cracked on my left leg after flexing them at ballet today lol

LOL, that is awesome!

Your back muscles look pretty huge as well - nice work!

Lol thanks! Eeh back could be better, just not really an area I've focused on that much until recently. Somewhere along the line I realised defined musculature on ones backside of the body is just as important as the front lol. In other words a nice butt, nice hams as well as a broad back and defined set of calves is just as important as abs, arms and quads. Unfortunately took me 1½ year to realise that but better late than never!

Did you work out the conditions at your house? I agree with the fruit comments, but aside from living off of take away foods, the stress at home could definitely make you feel sluggish too.

You should also check out vegan strength and conditioning coach Mike Mahler. I don't know the video off hand, but he's talked about the process of "transitioning" into a vegan diet. Some people struggle for a little while, and some people only go up. If you are following a good meal plan and logging your diet then you'll likely do better too. Of course, that's true of all diets, vegan or otherwise.

Justin Morgan wrote:Did you work out the conditions at your house? I agree with the fruit comments, but aside from living off of take away foods, the stress at home could definitely make you feel sluggish too.

You should also check out vegan strength and conditioning coach Mike Mahler. I don't know the video off hand, but he's talked about the process of "transitioning" into a vegan diet. Some people struggle for a little while, and some people only go up. If you are following a good meal plan and logging your diet then you'll likely do better too. Of course, that's true of all diets, vegan or otherwise.

Hey there Justin

You're definitely right about the stress factor. Long story short, I'm basically living as a nomad because my own apartment is a giant mess that hasn't seen a (decent) renovation since 1931. This means that until I'm done cleaning, disinfecting, painting and bringing in furniture, I don't really have a place to store food and cook. But I'm almost done with the kitchen, 2 more rooms to go, the entrance and lastly the bathroom and I should be done.

I'll look up Mike Mahler - but yeah logging my meals could at least shame me in to eating a little healthier. I try to refrain from animal fat and eggs altogether, but I would be lying if I said I haven't fallen off the wagon a few times and had some cake/Danish which both contain eggs and butter.

Really diet is my only setback in terms of reaching my goal because truth be told I work as hard, lift as much (actually more) than pretty much all female athletes I've encountered in the gym. Only difference between me and these pro athletes I've seen is body fat percent. And the reason I don't call myself a body builder is because I can't bring myself to claim such a title until and unless I cut down to 10 % bodyfat or at least have a (visible) 6-pack in a natural un-flexed state (my current 4-pack in a hyper-flexed pose doesn't really count in my book).

And lastly, you're looking pretty fine. You rock those thighs.

Thanks (at least all that cake is fuel for the quads... or at least I like to think so haha)

In between my sets I threw in sets of 15 rep push-ups, which means 120 push-ups all in all.

Bent over barbell

30 kg: 15 reps40 kg: 12 reps45 kg: 10 reps

Seated cable row

25 kg: 15 reps30 kg: 12 reps35 kg: 10 reps40 kg: 10 reps

Little note: I am usually strong in seated cable rows and can pull without any greater effort, but these last 3 times or so I've done them I've decreased in strength and I wonder if it's because I've upped my compound lifts that I am losing strength in the lesser compound lifts?

Dumbbell rows

16 kg: 12 reps 18 kg: 12 reps20 kg: 12 reps22 kg: 12 reps

Same thing with my dumbbell rows, I couldn't even take 12 in a row but had to throw in a little pause my 6th, 7th or 8th rep in which is quite frustrating, because I usually peak at 28 or 30 kg with a minimum of 6 reps if I doing strength sets. Again I wonder if I am becoming weaker in the lesser compound movements because of my inclusion and greater focus on big and and compound exercises like dl and squats (well squats I've more or less put on a hold due to a lack of flexibility in calves and hams that prevent me from performing themwith proper technique)?

Lateral cable pull downs:

35 kg: 12 reps40 kg: 12 reps45 kg: 8 reps50 kg: 6 reps

Again same thing as the previous exercises, decreased strength

And for fun I threw in 60 reps (3 sets of 20) lying leg raises from an elevated bench and a 1 min. plank.

Right, so figured I've build enough and unless I want to start a "hormone" diet or go for muscle exhaustion (endless reps at low low weights) at the expense of my strength, now is the time to start cutting. I don't have a specific weight goal, I just want to reduce my bodyfat percent (bfp) to at least 15 (currently measure ca. 25%). It would be awesome if I could have a bfp at 15 and maintain my current weight, but that's highly unlikely and I figure I'll drop to 60-65 kg at bfp 15, including muscle loss.

^^ Sheer technique work out and no real resistance involved. I've been avoiding conventional deadlifts in favour of stiff leg deadlifts because I tend to arch on my upper back in the conventional version, when going down with the weight. This is due to a mixture of inadequate technique and lack of strength in upper back. I hate working with p*ssy weights, so I just have to keep reminding myself "form over ego".

Really have to step my game up on this on... At one point I could do 55 kg! This less than half, sad sad sad! On the other hand better than nothing and gives me opportunity to perfect my technique, but ughh it's still annoying!

Haven't worked out for about 4 weeks due to domestic circumstances. Weight is consistent at 80-85 kg. It appears I've lost some muscle mass in my upper body area and I'm pretty sure strength too.

I'm still vegetarian, almost 4 months into it. Have been bumps on the road and moral setbacks, but have as of yet not ingested meat of any kind. Still eat dairy and eggs but in total makes up a very small part of my diet and I practically never drink milk or eat dairy/eggs on their own.

its a bit strange you've lost size after a 4 week layoff, atrophy usually takes much longer, did you cut calories or lose any weight in during that period?At the beginning of this year i was forced to take a 5 week layoff due to being away with work, on returning to the gym not only had i not lost strength or size, i'd even gained some / overcompensate